WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States may strike Iran again, claiming he was only an hour away from deciding on an attack before postponing it at the request of U.S. allies in the Gulf.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said Iran's leaders were "begging" to make a deal, but warned that a new U.S. attack could take place in the coming days if no agreement is reached.
He said the timeline could be Friday, the weekend or early next week, stressing that Washington "can't let them have a new nuclear weapon."
Trump said several Gulf allies had told him there was progress in negotiations brokered by Pakistan toward a peace deal so he would allow a "limited period of time" -- two or three days, at least -- for talks to continue.
The president said on Monday that this time was "a little bit different" from previously stalled talks in which Washington thought a deal was close.
"We've had periods of time where we had, we thought, pretty much getting close to making a deal, and it didn't work out. But this is a little bit different," Trump told reporters one day earlier.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly also said "Iran must renounce their nuclear ambitions for good."
Iran will "open new fronts" against the United States if the latter resumes attacks, Iran's ISNA news agency reported, citing Iran's army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia.
"If the enemy acts foolishly, falls into the Israeli trap and commits another aggression, we will open new fronts against them with new methods," Akraminia was quoted as saying by ISNA on social media platform X.
